The Nigerian government has disclosed plans to build six new cancer treatment centres in six tertiary healthcare facilities across the country.
The Minister of State for Health, Dr. Tunji Alausa, made this known in Abuja, on Monday, at a World Cancer Day Symposium with the theme: “Economy, Tax and Cancer Control: The Exit of Pharmaceutical Companies from Nigeria” organized by Project Pink Blue.
Dr Alausa said the centres would be built in the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu; Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaira; Federal Tertiary Hospital, Katsina; University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin; University of Jos Teaching Hospital, Jos; and Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Lagos.
He said these centres are strategically placed in the six geopolitical zones, aiming to enhance accessibility and prompt cancer response and treatment.
He explained that N20 billion has been secured for the construction of the cancer centres within the next three years.
“Sadly, the value of the money has depreciated because of the rising inflation. There is no way we could use the N20bn to build the cancer centres because the value has dropped significantly,” he said.
“We had to make presentation to the President and the National Assembly to give us additional budgetary allocation to build the six cancer centres.”
Dr Alausa said additional funding has been approved and the groundbreaking will happen in the next few weeks.
Inadequate radiotherapy
Speaking during the panel discussion, the Director-General, Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NNRA), Dr Yau Idris, stressed the need for the government to prioritize healthcare in the country.
Dr Idris mentioned that treating a population of over 200 million with the current equipment in the country’s health facilities is not feasible.
He highlighted the challenge, pointing out that the country has just 14 radiotherapy centres to cater to its entire population.
He said: “Looking at the case of Nigeria, we have only 14 radiotherapy centres in the country, nine of them belong to the government, only five of them belong to private, and only six of them are licensed by the NNRA, which means the others are not safe.”
“In terms of equipment, Nigeria has only seven Linacs (Linear accelerators), for a population of 200 million people. South Africa has 92, and Egypt has 76.”
In his remarks, the Executive Director of Project Pink Blue, Runcie Chidebe, advocates improved funding to support the fight against cancer in Nigeria, as well as coordinated efforts to achieve more results.
Mr Chidebe applauds the efforts and commitment of several stakeholders involved in cancer response in Nigeria, and suggested a policy that could result in reduction in the cost of cancer treatment in Nigeria.
He appealed to the stakeholders that made several commitments during the World Cancer Day, to translate their promises into action. This, he emphasized, would lead to enhanced results and indices during the next year’s event.